Westpac CEO Gail Kelly warns that all Australians will have to carry the cost of making the financial system safer:
“Of course you can ever increase capital and become ever more safe, but that does come at a cost. The increasing of capital ends up having ultimately having a diminishing return in terms of safety, but the costs are real, capital is not free. Those costs will flow through to impact the economy more broadly, noticing and noting that banks are strong intermediaries within the Australian economy.”
What Gail fails to consider is that Australians already carry the cost of an unsafe banking system, with the broad economy contracting when banks suffer solvency or liquidity problems. And the taxpayer effectively stands as guarantor in the event of a failure.
I agree that capital comes at a cost — higher than the direct cost of deposit funding which capital would partially replace. But when one factors in the cost of the vast infrastructure required to attract and service those deposits, the margin narrows. Increasing the level of capital will also make banks safer and reduce the risk premium, further lowering the average cost of capital. And not only for equity: improved risk ratings will lower the cost of deposit-funding as well.
Banks with higher capital ratios also benefit from higher asset and loan growth according to studies conducted by the Bank for International Settlements.
Making the banking system safer is not only in the interests of the taxpayer, but also bank shareholders.
Read more at This Breathtaking Overstep From Gail Kelly Shows It’s Time To Call Australia’s Bankers To Account | Greg McKenna
